"The Dilmun Exchange"

"Josh Pachter, an American who has lived abroad in recent years, published his first mystery short story at the age of sixteen. After too long an absence from writing, he has been active again as both editor and author. His 1983 anthology Top Crime has been published in a half-dozen countries, and a collection of his own stories has appeared in The Netherlands. Here he launches a promising new series, set in the little-known Arab emirate of Bahrain, an island nation strategically located in the oil-rich Persian Gulf."

from Ed Hoch's introduction

Although I'd been mentioned in Ed Hoch's annual "Honor Roll" before — in the 1973 edition, then called Best Detective Stories of the Year, I had three stories listed ("Invitation to a Murder," "The Theft of the Spy Who," and "The Tipoff") — this was the first time Ed chose to reprint something of mine in the book.

The "Honor Roll" at the end of this volume also lists "The Beer Drinkers" as one of the year's best stories.

Return to Bibliography.